Essay Draft 2

According to Lomeli (2011), the study conducted by Johnson & Wales University has reported that 80 percent of participants in the study who uses social media networks while working on homework will see negative implications on their efficiency and grades. It was observed that students could take up to six-to-eight hours per day to complete their homework because of distractions induced by online social media such as Facebook. This phenomenon was also found to be detrimental to students’ performance in school.

In Singapore, it has been found that 74% of 5.4 million people in 2013 use social media regularly (Hashmeta, 2014). Based on the study conducted by Johnson & Wales University in the United States, social media addiction has the potential to negatively affect the grades of students in Singapore. Hence, it is no surprise that the vast usage of social media poses a growing threat for the state. As such, educators and parents should intervene and control the situation by creating higher awareness on appropriate social media consumption.

Singaporean psychologist, Gisela Guttman, from Alliance Professional Counselling claims that “many of us take another picture or post another update; we want that hit of dopamine only logging back in and seeing that our content is generating interaction can bring. This leads to our compulsive use and social media addiction” (Guttmann, 2013). Since more time spent on social media would mean less time available for studying, social media addiction is therefore a significant factor in terms of school performance and grades.

The Ministry of Education, being the main influence in the educating policies in Singapore (MOE, 2015), should collaborate with respective schools and carry out campaigns informing students on the right habit of using these online social media platforms. One such campaign could involve the organizing of competitions such as poster designs and videos related to the healthy usage of social media. For example, to prevent social media addiction and its dire consequences on studies, students could design posters that educate others on the appropriate length of time that ought to be spent on social media, or emphasize the need to take a break from the screen after prolonged usage.

Students can then upload their posters or videos onto social media platforms to submit their entries and spread the word. The top 10 entries, chosen through public voting, will have their materials broadcasted through other media sources such as television and radio.  In this manner, MOE can stress on the importance of healthy social media usage by informing students on how the overuse of these distractions can be detrimental to their grades and performance in school. Students might also be more influenced to exercise healthy usage of social media since other students of a similar age are themselves creating materials to highlight its importance.

These campaigns would be effective because it reaches a broad audience - every student in Singapore’s public schools. The method of using posters and videos would be useful because students must learn firsthand about the topic before they can come up with ideas. Through this process of gaining knowledge, they will better understand the need for healthy social media usage, and this would have a greater impact on changing their unhealthy social media habits.

A possible implication of these campaigns is that not all students possess the artistic capability or technical skills to design posters and create videos for the competition. Despite the numerous innovative ideas a student may have, they may not have the ability to execute these ideas in the form of a poster or video. As a result, these campaigns may be unfair to such students.

Besides the MOE, another party responsible for the learning journey of a student is their parents. A recent 2010 study by researchers from the University of Leicester and the University of Leeds found that parents’ efforts towards their child’s educational achievement is crucial, playing a more significant role that that of school or child (University of Leicester, 2010).

Apart from school, students may spend much of their time at home under the supervision of parents.  With proper discipline and guidance from parents, they could learn the importance of healthy social media usage and cultivate a better attitude towards learning, ultimately resulting in better school performance, better grades and more confidence.

Hence, a solution to the problem of the over-usage of social media would be for parents to work closely with respective schools and teachers, closely monitoring their children’s grades and controlling their social media consumption at home, as well as offering constant guidance and discipline where necessary. On top of monitoring and offering guidance, parents can also reinforce good practices and habits for social media usage by educating their children on the adverse effects of the overuse of online platforms.

This solution would be effective as parents are able to cultivate their children’s healthy habits from young, before too many negative external influences affect their children’s behaviours and it becomes harder for them to break unhealthy habits. Involving parents also encourages parent-child bonding and family time, which is important for a child’s development as well. Moreover, parents who do not already feel highly involved in their children’s lives could take this opportunity to do so.

However, if both parents are working full-time, it would be difficult for them to be highly involved in their child’s educational development due to time constraints. Furthermore, this is a common situation among Singaporean families because of Singapore’s highly competitive economic climate.

In conclusion, the MOE and parents must pay attention to the the various negative effects of social media over-usage on students in today’s highly digitalised world, before it becomes an even bigger threat to students’ grades and school performance.

(948 words)

References:

Guttman, G (2013). How does social media affect your life? Angloinfo. Retrieved from: http://singapore.angloinfo.com/information/lifestyle/articles/social-media-addiction/

Hashmeta (2014, August). Social media landscape in Singapore. Hashmeta. Retrieved from: http://www.hashmeta.com/social-media-singapore-infographic/

Lomeli, J (2013, October 4). Social media affects grades. Coyote Student News. Retrieved from: http://coyotestudentnews.com/2013/10/04/social-media-affects-grades-and-communication-skills/

Ministry of Education (2015). Ministry of Education. Retrieved from: http://www.moe.gov.sg/about/

University of Leicester (2010, November 5). Parents’ effort key to child’s educational performance. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101029121554.htm

Essay Draft 1

According to Lomeli (2011), the study conducted by Johnson & Wales University have suggested that 80 percent of participants in the study who uses social media networks while working on homework will see negative implications on their efficiency and grades. It was observed that students could take up to six-to-eight hours per day to complete their homework because of the distraction induced by online social media such as Facebook. This distraction was also found to be detrimental to students’ performance in school.

In Singapore, it has been found that 74% of 5.4 million people in 2013 use social media regularly (Hashmeta, 2014). Based on the study conducted by Johnson & Wales University in the United States, social media addiction has the potential to negatively affect the grades of students in Singapore. Hence, it is no surprise that the vast usage of social media poses a growing threat for the state. As such, educators and parents should intervene and control the situation by creating higher awareness on appropriate social media consumption.

Singaporean psychologist, Gisela Guttman, from Alliance Professional Counselling claims that “many of us take another picture or post another update; we want that hit of dopamine only logging back in and seeing that our content is generating interaction can bring. This leads to our compulsive use and social media addiction” (Guttmann, 2013). Since more time spent on social media would mean less time available for studying, social media addiction is therefore a significant factor in terms of school performance and grades.

The Ministry of Education, being the main influence in the education policies in Singapore (MOE, 2015), should collaborate with respective schools and carry out campaigns informing students on the right habit of using these online social media platforms. One such campaign could involve the organizing of competitions such as poster designs and videos related to the healthy usage of social media. For example, to prevent social media addiction and its dire consequences on studies, students could design posters that educate others on the appropriate length of time that ought to be spent on social media, or emphasize the need to take a break from the screen after prolonged usage.

Students can then upload their posters or videos onto social media platforms to submit their entries and spread the word. The top 10 entries, chosen through public voting, will have their materials broadcasted through other media sources such as television and radio.  

In this manner, MOE can stress on the importance of healthy social media usage by informing students on how the overuse of these distractions can be detrimental to their grades and performance in school. Students might also be more influenced to exercise healthy usage of social media since other students of a similar age are themselves creating materials to highlight its importance.

To evaluate the effectiveness of these campaigns, surveys could be used to measure students’ daily social media usage before and after the campaigns, to determine if there is an overall decrease in social media usage amongst students who have been overusing social media. The pre-/post-survey could also cover questions on proper computer usage to test if students have learnt and practised good screen habits such as taking constant breaks from the screen.

A possible implication of these campaigns is that not all students possess the artistic capability or technical skills to design posters and create videos for the competition. Despite the numerous innovative ideas a student may have, they may not have the ability to execute these ideas in the form of a poster or video. As a result, these campaigns may be unfair to such students.

Besides the MOE, another party responsible for the learning journey of a student is their parents. A recent 2010 study by researchers from the University of Leicester and the University of Leeds found that parents’ efforts towards their child’s educational achievement is crucial, playing a more significant role that that of school or child (University of Leicester, 2010).

Apart from school, students may spend much of their time at home under the supervision of parents.  With proper discipline and guidance from parents, they could learn the importance of healthy social media usage and cultivate a better attitude towards learning, ultimately resulting in better school performance, better grades and more confidence.

Hence, a solution to the problem of the over-usage of social media would be for parents to work closely with respective schools and teachers, closely monitoring their children’s grades and controlling their social media consumption at home, as well as offering constant guidance and discipline where necessary. On top of monitoring and offering guidance, parents can also reinforce good practices and habits for social media usage by educating their children on the adverse effects of the overuse of online platforms.

The effectiveness of this strategy could be evaluated through students’ grades and overall school performance and attitude as reported by their teachers. Parents can monitor their children to see if controlled social media usage has indeed helped them to focus better on their studies.

However, if both parents are working full-time, it would be difficult for them to be highly involved in their child’s educational development due to time constraints. Furthermore, this is a common situation among Singaporean families because of Singapore’s highly competitive economic climate.

In conclusion, the MOE and parents must pay attention to the the various negative effects of social media over-usage on students in today’s highly digitalised world, before it becomes an even bigger threat to students’ grades and school performance.

(916 words)

References:

Guttman, G (2013). How does social media affect your life? Angloinfo. Retireved from: http://singapore.angloinfo.com/information/lifestyle/articles/social-media-addiction/

Hashmeta (2014). Social media landscape in Singapore. Hashmeta. Retrieved from: http://www.hashmeta.com/social-media-singapore-infographic/

Lomeli, J (2013). Social media affects grades. Coyote Student News. Retrieved from: http://coyotestudentnews.com/2013/10/04/social-media-affects-grades-and-communication-skills/

Ministry of Education (2015). Ministry of Education. Retrieved from: http://www.moe.gov.sg/about/

University of Leicester (2010). Parents’ effort key to child’s educational performance. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101029121554.htm

Influential Event

This event was one that took place back when I was 14. It was during the December holidays after I have completed my secondary two end-of-year examinations. I can clearly recall the happenings on that day and how it has changed my life forever. 

I was never an A-grader. My results were mediocre results ever since I embarked on the education journey. On that weekday afternoon, I was at my cousin's place after he accompanied me to school to purchase the huge load of textbooks for the next year. He was studying in a polytechnic at that moment so he had his own projects to work on. All I was left are big bags of textbooks and a set newspaper that day. Out of boredom and curiosity, I picked up the newspaper for the very first time and started flipping through.

It was somewhere in the “Home” section of the Straits Times, where the article is discussing about studying tips and some advices from educators who have “been there, done that”. Some tips that caught my eye were to “Start early, be ahead of your lectures” and also “Enjoy the process”.

Out of complete boredom, I thought to myself “Why not?” and begin unwrapping those textbooks and started reading the chapters.

Lo and behold, I started making notes and asking myself questions, which I clarified with the teachers when school reopened. The process of learning began to be more interesting and I actually enjoyed when my queries were being answered. The efforts paid off when I received my grades thereafter, and the positive reinforcement spurred me on to continue this habit, which eventually landed me in where I am today.

Indeed, the event was one so small, and to some, insignificant. It was just a little boy’s curiosity paired with a timely published article. Little does he know how his little act out of boredom would have brought him so much further in his journey of education.

(327 words)

Essay Outline

Main Problem: Studies have shown that there is a negative correlation between the

Affected target group/stakeholder: Singaporean students.

Agent of change/stakeholder: Ministry of Education, Parent Teacher Association.

Solution 1: MOE should collaborate with respective schools and carry out campaigns to inform students on the right habit of using these online social media platforms. This is a wider scale movement that includes organizing competitions such as poster/pamphlet designs (by students), best short film awards and talks. These posters and videos are to be then uploaded on social media platforms to create awareness directly to the affected target group.

Evaluation 1:

Solution 2: Parent Teacher Association should work closely with respective schools in monitoring the grades of students and their consumption habits back at home.

Evaluation 2:

Implication/Conclusion:

Thesis: Based on studies conducted in the United States, the addiction of use of social media has to potential to negatively affect grades of students in Singapore.